₦airaland Forum

Poor Richard Branson has just been interviewed.
It has been confirmed that Virgin cannot finish the race due to tiny fuel tanks. Bwahahahahahahaha!!!!!!

There are intermittent drops of rain!

9jaganja:
Alliance with US or China? To protect us from trade war? Look what is important is providing for the Nigerian population. We need to have less dependency on foreign policies and by that I mean making sure whatever is happening in the trade war has little to no effect on us. Nigeria's economy doesn't depend on Foreign market except in oil sector. Nigeria needs to strengthen domestic productions and make Africa our market just like South Africa is doing. If are looking to gain from this trade war, we will lose big time. We don't need alliance on this issue. Nigerians needs food, by now I don't expect us to be importing as much as we are. Every consumer goods in Nigeria should have a large percentage of it made in Nigeria. Nigeria is big enough market. When this manufacturing thing goes off, it creates job here in Nigeria and as we start exporting to other African nations out economy get more jobs into it but what should be most important is domestic trade. Nigeria is a multi trillion dollars economy if properly tapped. Alliance with US or China means nothing but exporting oil as of now and China won't want to import anyother thing from Nigeria so what do we get for the alliance? we get to export jobs to other economies be it US or China. Our domestic economy is Important the most!!!

Oil money is all we have, that is our whole economy. The ideas you've put forward might be good for the long term, but we are talking about events that might kick off full steam, April 15th; there isn't the luxury of developing our domestic market in less than 3 weeks. We would need a clever way to deal with the powers in the outside chance that sh** hits the fan.

[size=14pt]Wet race?[/size]
Rain predicted!!! That would just spice up the race unbelievably!
Race in an hours time. . .

I am more interested in what these powers would do to get cheap energy in a time of strife when markets are stretched and resources are low, but there is a need for the powers to keep their domestic wheels turning. These are the sorts of things Sanusi and the CBN should be very concerned about.
If the US and China engage in economic warfare, it would surely be a matter of National security for us. How can we insulate ourselves? To me, the best way would be to form stronger alliances with either the US or China (definitely not both).

^
This directly affects Nigeria, thats why I put it here. There are very strong US and Chinese influences in various spheres of the Nigerian economy; so lets explore it as it might affect us. Where would such a battle leave a mono-product economy like ours?

[size=14pt]If the US declares economic war on China, we should all tremble[/size]
China and Germany exploit the global system without accepting reciprocal responsibilities to manage it. It cannot go on

In the darkest hours of the financial crisis in the autumn of 2008, it was obvious that all nations' economic destinies were intertwined. Today, that sense of a collective global economic interest is receding. On 15 April, a decision in Washington will be taken, the impact of which will be a sharp reminder than in 2010 all still connects. The United States is to rule, unilaterally, whether China is unfairly manipulating its currency against the dollar to promote its exports; if the case is accepted, it's a de facto declaration of economic war and a signal that now it is every country for itself.

The Americans aren't just making a noise. They will back their judgment with a tariff on Chinese imports into the US and China is unlikely to back down. It will fight fire with fire. Other countries, worried that the Americans and Chinese will dump goods on them that were destined for the Chinese and American markets, will feel it is legitimate to protect themselves in turn. Britain's export markets, open for two generations, will regress towards the closure of the 1930. Hopes of economic recovery will be dashed.

It is not just the US and China that are more economically nationalist. The Europeans finally arrived at a deal to help a Greece stricken with a colossal budget deficit last week, but it was hardly an exercise in European solidarity. Germany dragged its feet and only signed up if the IMF led the negotiations and stumped up a third of any bailout funds; there was no hint that Germany itself might increase public borrowing to reflate its economy to help other eurozone countries in trouble. It was Germany first.

The lack of internationalism is hopelessly short-sighted. All the evidence about the aftermaths of credit crunches where there are high levels of private indebtedness is that bank lending grows at a quarter or less of the rate it grew at beforehand, a hugely depressive effect on the economy. But this is a synchronised credit crunch with a synchronised global slowdown in credit; the depressive effect will be global. The temptation for any single country to use trade and currency policy to capture more of the stagnant pool of jobs is ever-present – it is what the Chinese have been doing for years – but when national economies were booming the impact could be shrugged off. Not today.

In Washington, patience is at an end at China's readiness to export unemployment to the US where the rate is already over 10%. There was open dismay at Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's recent claim to China's National Peoples Congress that countries such as the US, which want China to lift its currency and depreciate their own are protectionist. Chinese foreign currency reserves are climbing by $40bn a month. Already, total reserves top $2.4 trillion. Reserves can only grow so much faster than China's current account surpluses because China is printing more of its own currency to supply to world markets to keep its exchange rate down. Put another way, China is rigging its currency to a degree not paralleled in modern times.

The issue unites Democrats and Republicans. In the New York Times recently, Paul Krugman urged that on 15 April Obama act by slapping on a temporary tariff, as Nixon did on European imports in 1971. The notion that the Chinese have the Americans over a barrel because they finance America's deficits is wrong, argued Krugman. China needs the US to keep its markets open.

Krugman is right that China needs to change its policy. But the risk is that unilaterally slapping on tariffs could be self-defeating, causing the world to retreat into protection, competitive devaluation and prolonged recession. A far cleverer strategy would be to try for a global deal, as urged by Michael Pettis, of Carnegie's China Programme. China needs to be given time to reduce its dependence on exports and build its domestic spending, running at risibly low levels. This means boosting workers' wages, probably allowing trade unions, establishing property rights as collateral for borrowing and permitting its currency to rise.

If China gives that commitment, argues Pettis, the US should reply by saying it will maintain high government borrowing to keep American demand buoyant even as private credit grows slowly. It will keep its markets open. The EU should be part of the bargain, too, with the German government in particular spending and borrowing to maintain demand, and Britain taking an even more gradualist approach to lowering its deficit than the one outlined by Alistair Darling in Wednesday's budget. The aim is to keep global public deficits up to compensate for reduced private credit growth while China adjusts its exchange rate. Thus the world might avert trade war.



I like Pettis's grand bargain, but the chances of it happening are close to zero. First, Obama has to take the risk of trying – and of being snubbed by both China and Germany. Reforms such as extending property rights or encouraging worker power directly threaten one-party rule in China, which is why they are resisted. Thus China chose to reflate through investment rather than reform in 2009, increasing its reliance on exports. It is mercantilist, in that it wants to trade one way, because it is an authoritarian state. The party could thus never agree to its side of any bargain. Neither, after last week's dealings over Greece, would Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel. She hasn't got the imagination to be part of a global bargain to lift the threat of trade war. Obama might be tempted to try, but the political risks of rebuff are too high. Equally, he can't allow China to carry on stealing US jobs. I suspect he will tell China it has six months to change its policy – or else.

For years, we have assumed that trade and globalisation are an inevitable part of the landscape. They are not. China and Germany exploit the global system without accepting reciprocal responsibilities to manage it. It cannot go on. The deficit countries, notably the US but also ourselves to a degree, can no longer play the role we used to as importers of last resort. Britain has to build its productive and innovative capacity as does the US. Economic rebalancing has to be both domestic and international – with give and take on both sides.

The trouble is that neither Germany nor China sees their role in this way. The emerging consensus in America is that only strong-arm tactics will persuade them to change, thus the case for tariffs to leverage the international economic rebalancing that is otherwise being avoided. Britain is particularly exposed. In the 1930s, we could shelter behind a British-devised tariff cast round the empire. Today, we are not even in the euro. Darling's budget, and the debate about what he should cut and how fast he should do it, presumes the world in the years ahead will get back to and stay "normal". That seems ever more improbable. In which case – what is Plan B?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/28/will-hutton-china-germany

cap28:
so how come there is no provision within the constitution giving them the powers to pass a resolution such as the one that they passed transferring power to Jonathan?

One of our biggest problems is not understanding what a constitution is. It is the main reason we have the Yar'Adua problem.

The constitution is a mere set of guidelines. It isn't some sort of bible with detailed verses; you would be surprised to learn that the Nigerian constitution is 10+ times bigger than its US counterpart. Yet, there is no argument as to the fact that the US is so much better governed.
Every Nigerian loves big letters attached to their names and intellect, so we complicate simple issues; a restaurant becomes an "eatery", National Security Adviser becomes NSA, Acting President becomes AG President, newspaper articles become rambling pieces of ar'se licking bullsh!t. . . It goes on and on.
Right now, we are caught in our "cleverness" trap and if it didn't affect you and I so badly, it would be extremely funny.

Compare Nigerian vs US constitutions yourself;
http://www.nigeria-law.org/ConstitutionOfTheFederalRepublicOfNigeria.htm (Nigeria)
http://www.constitution.org/constit_.htm (USA)

The last week must rank as the worst of Binyamin "Bibi" Netanyahu's second term as Israeli prime minister. It produced headlines no leader would want to read, even allowing for the sometimes excitable tone of the Israeli press: "Ambush in the White House", "A hazing in stages" and "With his back to the wall."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/28/binyamin-netanyahu-worst-week

Good for him too. Every id!ot must get an airing every once in a while to dry up their id!ocy.

Last update - 02:35 28/03/2010
[size=14pt]Netanyahu endangering Israel's security[/size]
By Zvi Bar'el

If there's a photo the White House should issue after Benjamin Netanyahu's visit, it's a group portrait of the prime minister, his Iraqi counterpart and the president of Afghanistan embracing Barack Obama together.

They are all heads of governments attached to the U.S.'s umbilical cord. They all experience insecurity in the region, and the world is concerned about each of the three's security. Washington manages domestic policy for each of them, since each poses a danger to American foreign policy. In Iraq, Washington is involved in disagreements among Sunnis, Shi'ites and Kurds. In Afghanistan, Washington dictates conditions to the president to help advance its war against Al-Qaida. And when it comes to Israel, the United States showed clearly last week that it will not allow domestic Israeli politics to interfere with American foreign policy.

The group photo is a fitting picture of how Israel's situation has deteriorated during Netanyahu's short term in office. We're not talking about yet another clumsy Israeli foreign minister whom no one wants to meet, or irksome building permits. Netanyahu poses a threat to Israeli security because he tips the balance of U.S.-Israeli relations, which are essential for our survival. And not only these relations. If Washington gives Israel the cold shoulder, it will be showing the way for other important countries, from Britain to Egypt and Brazil to Turkey, to do the same. Israel is no longer an exotic citron, but has been exposed as just another lemon. Advertisement

We may mock Netanyahu for the impolite reception he received in Washington; we can snipe about the late hour of his meeting with Obama, past Israeli television's prime time, and ask why Obama abandoned the talk for dinner with his children. But then we remember that this isn't some other country's prime minister who is being kicked around; this danger on wheels is our own.

In a properly-run country, concerned about its own survival, thousands would have met the prime minister on his return, calling for his resignation. In such a country, gangs of squatters who steal land and buildings in Jerusalem would be considered organizations opposed to the nation's security interests. They would be taken to court, at least. In Israel, they are a symbol of national pride.

This arrogant government is sure that ever since it annexed the occupied territory in Jerusalem, it granted Israel control for all eternity. Jordan's King Abdullah can tell the lovers of eternity what happened to the so-called legal annexation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem to Jordan. This is the same Jordanian East Jerusalem that Washington will recognize as the capital of Palestine.

For generations the settlers have been blamed for posing an obstacle to peace, for acting against the policy of the government, which, poor soul, can't stand up to these bullies. And so, while Washington believed that the Israeli government wanted to take action against such subversive organizations but had problems, it showed restraint, gave in a little about the construction freeze, patted Netanyahu on the shoulder and granted extensions to the government so it could manage its own affairs.

There is no longer any basis for this approach. The Israeli government, and the seven wonders in charge of it, are inseparable from the bullies. And so Washington had to conclude that the government and prime minister were simply lying.

Washington's main interest is no longer whether the peace process will advance, because there are no guarantees that even direct talks with the Palestinians will end in an agreement. Washington's interest is to preserve its standing in the world against a small state and its crafty government, which made it a laughing stock. This will be a true test of the United States' ability to apply foreign policy. What is good for Iraq and Afghanistan, Washington figures, will also suit Israel now, because if Israel rebuffs Washington, Iraq and Afghanistan will, too.

And so the American formula is the same for all three. The United States will take care of the security of Israel/Iraq/Afghanistan, but security will not be measured only in the number of weapons sold to them, but also in the creation of conditions that will avoid the need to use them. To a certain extent, it will also be measured by these countries' willingness to agree to U.S. policy. In this way, a new condition has been created that should have been applied a long time ago. According to it, any country that is willing to harm the international standing of the United States is gambling on its own security. This is not a threat, but a clarification.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1159608.html

cap28:
i was under the impression that the appointment of jonathan WAS in breach of s 145 of the constitution because power was not transferred by way of a written letter by Yaradua nor was it transferred  by way of a declaration by Yaradua's former cabinet - so perhaps Yaradua's cronies have a point.

The House of Reps and Senate are our highest law making bodies, their word in law supersedes yours by an incalculable margin.

[size=14pt]Yar’Adua’s men under surveillance [/size]
By Olusola Balogun
Sunday, March 28, 2010

Fresh trouble seems to be in the horizon for key members of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s kitchen cabinet despite their ouster from the Executive Council of the Federation by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan penultimate Wednesday.

Security sources told Sunday Sun that the returnee National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Aliyu Gusau, has placed them under surveillance to ensure they do not engage in anything untoward.
Apparently acting under instruction, the NSA was said to have ordered that “the movement and contacts of all the former ministers, particularly of those in the (Yar’Adua) kitchen cabinet, be closely monitored and promptly reported to him.”

Key members of the kitchen cabinet had reportedly attempted to checkmate the Acting President even long before he was proclaimed acting President by both chambers of the national assembly.

But the game ended for them when Jonathan decisively sacked the cabinet last Wednesday after a meeting of the FEC. Shocked by the development, members of Yar’Adua’s inner cabinet, who often hold court with the first lady, Turai, were scared stiff of reprisals for their untoward attitude towards the Acting President while he was still the Vice President.

They were said to have made moves to relocate to a neighbouring country, with Ghana top on their list due to its proximity, but security agents stopped them. The source claimed it was members of the clique that the government had in mind when it ordered them all not to leave the country soon after the cabinet was dissolved last week.
Sources claimed those on close security watch are former Special Adviser on Economic Matters, Tanimu Yakubu; former Agriculture and Water Resources Minister, Sayyadi Abba-Ruma; former Justice Minister, Michael Aondoakaa, SAN; Adamu Aliero, former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory; former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Rilwan Lukman, and Minister of Finance, Mansur Muktar.

Former Minister of National Planning, Shamsudeen Usman, who was recalled into the new cabinet, is also said to be on the watch list. According to the source, “we have to put them where we can always see them. They are under watch. The manner they did things before cannot definitely continue. We are compiling their movement, their meetings and a report is being filed on who they meet and their plans.”

He added that the group has been doing some things to undermine the government, adding: “We feed the (Acting) President back on daily basis and I can assure you that the NSA gets reports on them every three hours. We know they are working on a plan to discredit the government.
“They are also working on attacking the foundation of the government, probably through the courts. They are working with some judges so that they will declare the proclamation of the National Assembly unconstitutional and illegal, and subsequently all the actions of the Acting President. One of them is particularly bent on hitting back at the government and is using his influence.”

But speaking to Sunday Sun, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN, said the National Assembly was ready to meet in court anyone planning to challenge its resolution.
Said he: “If anyone is planning to fault what we have done through the court, we will meet them there.”
The Deputy Senate Leader and former chairman of Calabar branch of Nigeria Bar Association added: “We did what we needed to do under the circumstance to save the ship of state and I know it cannot be faulted. We will have things to say too if it is the court they are planning to go. I can assure you of that.”

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/mar/28/national-28-03-2010-004.htm

^
My level of bad bele for Alonso is so high that it almost damages my health. He's the very last person I want to see waltzing away in the WC points, I'm keeping fingers crossed that both Red Bull engines stay sweet and ahead of Alonso. Another person to watch will be Button.

I've just seen the video's of Lewis hiding sheepishly in his car after doing burnouts and fishtails. . . At a junction, right in front of a police van! Duh!
The boy needs his dad back as manager, he really seems to be low from the incident.

What d'you think about Virgin's computer generated fuel tank?

This 50 year old man is married to a 13 year old child. Underage intercourse is a CRIME.

Former Zamfara State governor Ahmed Sani Yeriman Bakura; Age 50; in January 27, 2000, he pioneered sharia law at state level in Zamfara.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Ahmed_Sani_Yeriman_Bakura.jpg

Dominoifet:
@Beaf

I'm not so , u can't despoil me.

I only answered Frosbel question quote ".Hmm, why ?Muhammad married a girl of 6 , this guy a girl of 13. Which one is more insane ?I Which one is more insane ?"

I think its the one that has his name ending with , mad? Abi I lie?

You sound foolish. Frosbel is several leagues above your moral class, so leave him out of it; you will find that his reply to me was quite level; it wasn't the sort of rabid thing you've got up there.

@maedan
Have you ever viciously, maliciously, critically, explosively rejected H2O2's weak advances?
H2O2, leave the girl alone.

H2O2:
rofl, you guessed correctly. it's already in the works.

i'm glad to contribute to nl' ever-increasing population growth.

My friend, H2O2 is Hydrogen peroxide, not water!

^
Are you a kid or something?

^
It is more of a cultural thing in the sharia areas. Some of the criminals that practice it only cite Islam, because it is easy to convince the religious.

TewMuch:
Dirty, Nasty, Stinking old idiot. This is criminal. He should be arrested and handed over to face the wrath of Sharia. He even left one of his wives to marry an "exotic" Arab for $100000? Nigerian's and their inferiority complex, an Arab wow, what a naughty person. All the senators and government officials that attended the wedding should lose their appointments. What a big shame. The North better curb this, cause this is just too much.

It is not the North as one unit, the barbaric practice is found in the sharia North only.

Kenezi:
In Benin only 100 years ago, they used to sacrifice human beings, cutting off their heads, melting down the skin etc and turning it into soup.

Should I say this is okay because the people of the time didn't care? A child r.apist is a child r.apist whenever. A 9 year old is a lot different from 16 or 18, especially since he picked her up at six years of age!

Muhammed was a paedophile who r.aped little kids. How can anybody give this guy the time of day?

We should leave Muhammed out of this.

When leaders are worse than criminals, it is no wonder we have Mutallabs, Boko Haram, Kala Kato, Maitatsine etc. That thug should be put in jail for sexual  molestation of a 13 year old child and practising slavery.

biina:
By the standards of the time, she was qualified for marriage (and had been betrothed earlier to someone else before Muhammad).
The definition of a minor in the US is 18 while in Japan it is 20. So people in the US are craddle-robbers for having intimacy with 19yr olds?
You cannot describe as pedophilia, marrying someone that is deemed of marriage age in the society of interest

Lord have mercy!
So what is the definition of a minor in Zamfara? Under 10? Under 13? Toddlers only?
Listen to yourself and weep.

kosovo: Finally, I want to also thank the Supreme Commander of Nairaland for creating such a wonderful diverse platform For Nigerians and Friends of Nigerians!

I congratulate NL on hitting that milestone.

Having said that, I hope your "Supreme Commander" will understand that, the more people join the NL community, the less he is able to change the words or actions of members with impunity. Its now 500,000 members past the time to drop that "Supreme Commander" thing.

Sanusi would have been much better in the EFCC with his aggressive style. . . Although his best bet would be to morph into some sort of full time glorified marabout.
I do not appreciate the likes of Sanusi or Helen Ukpabio or anyone else that exhibits extreme religious tendencies, anywhere near government halls.

We need to split this country. Let the sharia areas go their way.

When some of us argue that the country is in the gutter, there are always some who would come up with some weird and crazy logic about how everything is sweet and crisp. . . With this development it isn't difficult to see why, our "leaders" are openly having intercourse with children and their gutter logic flows downward.

“It was awful,” the congressman said. One Israeli newspaper called the meeting “a hazing in stages”, poisoned by such mistrust that the Israeli delegation eventually left rather than risk being eavesdropped on a White House telephone line. Another said that the Prime Minister had received “the treatment reserved for the President of Equatorial Guinea”.

. . .That from Israeli officials who had just visited a black man! Why would they feel more important than the President of Equatorial Guinea, if he is invited to the White House? This is damning! Just terrible! Despicable!
That is probably why they didn't show respect to Joe Biden, they feel he is a black mans VP.
Their racist attitude is a major part of the rot in Palestine; that place is racist to the same scale as apartheid South Africa was. Israel is a disgrace.

Musiwa:
No mind him. A hollywood star was curious,   how I look like. that should tell you a story.

Problem 6: Picking aganga, an unknow person from lagos which no one have ever heard about, and someone who have never any politics opinion about any nigeria issue, not popular to battle fashola/ tinubu. again. To battle Tinubu/fashola. I am going to say it again. To battle fashola/tinubu. And again to battle fashola/tinubu. Do that make sense to you. ? fashola is building a city on the sea. Ask yourself , do you think he stand even 1% chances, No. Lagos is the heart of nigeria. A win in lagos means so much.

Ol' boy! Take your medicine!

Sadly, it could be worse. . .

In [size=21pt]Kebbi[/size] State of northern Nigeria, the [size=21pt]average age of marriage for girls is just over 11 years[/size],

http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2005/presskit/factsheets/facts_child_marriage.htm (United Nations)

Yeriman introduced sharia, so what can be expected of him. He is as uncivilised as your average gorilla.

[size=21pt]The man is a pedo![/size]
Why haven't the police picked him up?

The UN has for long been worried about child marriage and pedophilia in the sharia North; but when a senator and ex-gov becomes the leading light of such an evil practice, what progress can the UN and well meaning folk make.

May whatever that man worships, punish him!

@slap1
Bros, you can quote only the part of the article that you want to highlight. Why re-post the whole article?
Abeg, bros, please sorry for we na!